


Monster Bash

by enigmaticblue



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Birthday, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 13:24:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1689914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s Buffy’s birthday, and Giles and Wesley have been charged with ensuring that nothing bad happens. Or at the very least, that she doesn’t find out about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monster Bash

“Did you get the cake?” Giles asked.

 

Wesley raised an eyebrow. “Of course. I am perfectly capable of following simple directions, Giles.”

 

“I was just making certain. Spike made a valid point the other day.”

 

Wesley returned to the book he was perusing. Spike had made rather dire threats, saying that Buffy had been through enough and deserved a birthday without emergencies. He was intent on making certain that Buffy had the best possible birthday, and that did not include the presence of demons, vampires, or any other evil creatures—except for himself. He was busy ensuring that Buffy didn’t discover their plans for her surprise party, and that left the preparations up to the Watchers.

 

And Faith—who had been surprisingly helpful.

 

“I brought the decorations.” Faith entered Giles’ house, holding a bag aloft. “So what do you say we get this party started?”

 

“Buffy won’t be here for a few hours yet,” Giles replied, glancing out the window.

 

Faith raised her eyebrows. “Relax, Giles. Nothing is going to go wrong.”

 

Wesley’s head came up in alarm at that. “Faith!”

 

“Shit.” A sheepish expression crossed her face. “I probably just jinxed us, didn’t I?”

 

“I should say so.” He rose from his seat in the armchair. “I’ll go check the perimeter. The protections we put in place should hold.”

 

“I’ll go with you,” Faith announced.

 

Giles cleared his throat. “I thought you were going to decorate.”

 

She smirked. “I said I’d bring the decorations; I never promised to put them up. If it were me, I’d have hired a stripper for her.”

 

“I hardly think that Spike would have approved of that,” Wesley murmured, even as Giles choked.

 

Faith just grabbed him by the arm. “Let’s go, Wes.”

 

Wesley found it strange that they had developed an easy companionship so quickly. Giles had been the one to ask both of them to stay—he thought that Angel might have said something to the Council head after Willow had failed to save Fred.

 

It had been too hard to see her everywhere he’d turned at the office.

 

From what he understood, Faith was in much the same position, although he didn’t have the details, just that something had happened to the man she’d been with in Cleveland.

 

“We’ve got incoming,” she announced.

 

Wesley snapped his wrists, releasing the stakes from their sheaths; he’d been warned about Buffy’s birthdays, and had come armed. “Vampires?”

 

Her lips curled up in a feral smile. “Yeah. Think they can crash the party, I guess.”

 

“More than likely, they heard that there were two of the best Slayers in history staying here,” Wesley responded.

 

She shot him a surprised look. “Huh?”

 

“Watch out!”

 

Her reflexes saved her from the blow that would landed on her temple. Wesley had his hands full with another vampire, and he could hear more that were hidden from sight by the inky darkness. He had dusted two when another got in a blow to his gut, knocking the wind out of him, and he was too distracted to see the blow aimed at his head.

 

The world grayed out, and when he came to, he was on the ground, Faith standing over him, clutching a stake in each hand. “Bring it on,” she was saying. “You think you can take a Slayer?”

 

“Bloody hell,” Wesley said, clambering shakily to his feet.

 

Faith spared him a glance. “You good?”

 

His nod made his head ache all the more. “Fine.”

 

“Let’s show these bloodsuckers what a Slayer and her Watcher can do, huh?”

 

Wesley clutched his remaining stake harder, warmed by the title.

 

~~~~~

 

Giles frowned, looking out into the darkness. Wesley and Faith should have been back by now; Spike and Buffy weren’t scheduled to arrive for a few hours, but the property wasn’t so big that it would take all night.

 

Unless, of course, they were doing something other than patrolling. He’d begun wondering if he was reading the signs right, although he couldn’t be certain. Wesley had just lost someone to whom he’d been quite attached, and Faith had been burnt by love recently herself.

 

He shook his head, dismissing the idea. They were too different; he was sure of that much.

 

Something tapped at the door, and Giles frowned. Buffy had a key; she would simply let herself in, or walk right in, since he’d left it unlocked. Looking through the peephole, he saw a young woman standing outside, without a coat, her arms wrapped around herself.

 

Opening the door cautiously, Giles asked, “May I help you?”

 

“Our car broke down up the lane,” she replied, her accent indicating that she was from the north. “Do you have a phone I could use?”

 

His eyes narrowed, and Giles wondered if they thought him such a fool as all that. He stood aside without replying, his gesture a clear invitation to come in, although he spoke no words aloud. The girl stared at him expectantly. “Can I come in?” she finally asked.

 

Giles simply raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Can you?”

 

Her face changed at that moment, eyes going demon-yellow. “Old fool. Your friends will be dead by now. We’re drinking Slayer blood tonight.”

 

Giles pulled the crossbow he’d grabbed from the entry table out from behind his back. The bolt went through her heart, sending her dust scattering over the front steps. Looking out into the night, he knew there were more vampires out there, and that Wesley and Faith had likely already been attacked.

 

For a moment, he considered calling Buffy and Spike, but he had promised that for one night the oldest living Slayer would not have to deal with emergencies or apocalypses. Giles meant to keep that promise; he’d hurt Buffy too many times, and broken too many promises to her already.

 

Going back into the house, he quickly grabbed every weapon that came to hand, including holy water, crosses, stakes, and a few more bolts for the crossbow.

 

He was just about ready to head out when he heard the crashing of glass from the front room. “Bugger it all,” he snarled, looking more like Ripper than he had for quite some time. Giles ran towards the room, bringing the crossbow up to dust the vampire standing at the window.

 

With a sinking heart, he realized that they had been besieged, and that it was entirely likely that Buffy and Spike would return to find a fight, rather than the peaceful evening he had promised.

 

~~~~~

 

Faith was more than a little worried about Wesley; they were surrounded by vampires, and it looked as though whoever had organized the raiding party had mustered up quite a few of the undead. He’d taken a hard knock on the skull, and she could tell that he wasn’t up to par.

 

“Dammit,” Faith muttered. “Why tonight?”

 

“It’s Buffy’s birthday,” Wesley replied, his sense of humor clearly intact. “When this is all over, I’m going to look into this curse, because it must be more than coincidence.”

 

In spite of the danger, she grinned wryly. “You do that. I’d rather not get caught in the crossfire again.”

 

“How are we going to get out of this one?” Wesley asked, keeping a wary eye on the darkness.

 

Faith could sense more vampires, but they had backed off for now, gathering their forces. “We could make a break for it,” she suggested; she’d never liked to retreat, but there were times it was necessary.

 

His eyes narrowed. “Have you ever blown up a car, Faith?” His voice was barely above a whisper, cueing her to the fact that he had a plan.

 

Her eyes went wide. “What? No.” As she followed his line of thought, her grin broadened. “Oh, now you’re talking. Whose car?”

 

“It would be Giles’ or the rental,” he replied. “Whichever one has more petrol would be preferable. The more fire the better.”

 

Faith had used Giles’ car to drive to pick up the decorations, and she knew it was more than half-full. The chief Watcher was not going to be happy if they used his car to make a bomb, but she didn’t think they had a choice. “Better use Giles’ car,” she finally said. “He’s not going to be happy.”

 

“If we survive this, he can blame me,” Wesley replied.

 

“You lead, I’ll follow,” Faith ordered.

 

He broke away immediately, moving at a fast pace, although not as fast as Faith would have preferred. It was clear that he’d be nursing some serious bruises before the evening was over.

 

She could hear footsteps shadowing her in the darkness. Taking a chance, Faith stopped suddenly and was nearly run over by a teenage vampire. He crumbled to dust seconds later, and she paused to stake the one that had come to his aid.

 

“Faith!”

 

“Right behind you!” She ran to catch up. Wesley was fighting two vampires who must have outpaced them.

 

Movement near the house caught her eye, and she saw several vampires congregated around the front, although they were staying well away from the door and windows, which were all open. A streak of light flew out, and Faith’s eyes went wide as she realized that Giles was using flaming arrows.

 

It wasn’t a bad idea, she had to concede a moment later, when an arrow that had missed its mark still managed to send a vampire up in flames.

 

“Get inside!” Wesley called, holding the vampire he fought at bay. “I’ll take care of the car.”

 

Faith had no idea how he was going to accomplish that, but she knew that their plan wouldn’t do any good if the flames didn’t catch most of the vamps at once. “You’ll need bait!” she shouted, heading for the car and vaulting onto the roof before he could reply.

 

She could hear him curse—really creatively, too, she was impressed—and then she shouted, “Hey! You guys came here for Slayer blood, right? Well, come and get it.”

 

The vampires around the house turned as one to look at her, and a few others appeared out of the darkness. Wesley had hidden himself in the shadow of the garage, and Faith began to get a little nervous. If they couldn’t pull this one off, their best bet would be to hole up inside and wait for reinforcements.

 

She was having fun, but Faith was sure that this didn’t fit into Spike’s idea of a perfect-Buffy-birthday.

 

And one of these days, she was going to get one of those herself.

 

“Come on!” she taunted. “You all are cowards! None of you are going to take me on?”

 

The group began to circle the car, eyeing her hungrily. Faith knew that she was putting all her faith in Wesley’s ability to blow up a car with—whatever he was going to use. When on earth had she started trusting him implicitly?

 

“Faith! Go!”

 

His voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once, and the Slayer launched herself, flipping over the heads of the vampires and rolling on the ground. She had only an instant to notice the cold of the ground before the heat of the explosion hit her like a fist.

 

“Fuck me,” Faith muttered, turning to watch the explosion. “He did it.”

 

She scrambled to her feet, wanting to be sure that all the vampires had been dusted, but Giles jogged out of the house. “Get inside,” he ordered. “I’ll take care of the clean up.”

 

She shook her head stubbornly. “You’ll need somebody to watch your back.”

 

Giles glared, looking impatient, but he didn’t argue. It didn’t take long to figure out that whatever vampires hadn’t been caught in the explosion had likely run off. Faith didn’t blame them; they’d definitely bitten off more than they could chew.

 

“Are you alright?” Wesley demanded as soon as she entered the house.

 

She shrugged. “Five by five.”

 

“Did it have to be my car?” Giles demanded.

 

“The tank was mostly full,” Faith replied. “And it was my call, so you don’t have to yell at Wes.”

 

The older Watcher sighed and closed his eyes. “I’ll get the first aid kit. You’re bleeding.”

 

She frowned. “Where?”

 

Wesley approached her, reaching out to swipe his thumb under her bottom lip. “There. You have a cut.”

 

“Think it’ll scar?”

 

“I doubt it.” There was a long pause as their eyes met, then Wesley said, “That was quite a stunt.”

 

“I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

 

“No,” he agreed simply. “Not again.”

 

There was another pause, and Faith knew he was remembering how she’d used her body—and her drugged blood—as a weapon against Angelus. “My choice, both times,” she replied. “I guess we managed to save Buffy’s birthday.”

 

“I guess we did,” he agreed. “But remind me not to stick around next year.”

 

Faith grinned. “Right there with you.”

 

Wesley turned as Giles re-entered the room, holding out his hand for the first aid kit. “I’ll take care of it, if you want to start the clean up. I thought I saw at least one broken window.”

 

Giles sighed. “You did. I’ll have to call someone tomorrow. It will be a cold night indoors, I’m afraid.”

 

Faith took a seat on the couch, and then kept still as Wesley wiped the cut with an antiseptic swab. “It’s already healing,” he murmured.

 

“Slayer. We heal fast.” Her eyes narrowed in contemplation. “I figure we both deserve a reward after that.”

 

Wesley raised his eyebrows. “What would that be?”

 

Faith kissed him. She didn’t know about Wesley, but she had no intention of sleeping cold that night. When he kissed her back, she knew he wouldn’t have a problem helping her out.

 

Maybe Buffy’s birthday curse wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
